Direct answer

The documented Leaf 1.21.1 DAB options are inside performance.dab in config/leaf-global.yml. DAB changes AI update timing rather than reducing the number of spawned mobs. Farms or villagers that rely on distant targeting may behave differently.

How to check it

  1. Confirm the current build actually exposes performance.dab and record the generated values.
  2. Use a controlled test with villagers or a mob farm at different player distances; record AI movement and tick cost.
  3. Check whether the issue disappears with DAB disabled on a test server before adjusting each parameter.

What to change

For the historical 1.21.1 layout, the enabled flag looks like this:

performance:
  dab:
    enabled: true

Tune start-distance and activation-dist-mod only after comparing behavior. Consider entity-specific exclusions for affected farms rather than applying an aggressive server-wide frequency limit.

Compatibility and safety

Leaf documents a dont-enable-if-in-water setting intended to avoid some far-away water-related AI problems. Do not assume this Leaf-specific key exists in Pufferfish.

Software and version notes

The cited Leaf global config page explicitly describes the 1.21.1 branch; newer Leaf builds may have different keys, defaults or feature support. Verify config/leaf-global.yml generated by your actual server.

Verify the result

Compare mobs near and far from players, farm output, and entity-related profiling. Restore previous DAB values if targeting or movement changes unacceptably.

References